BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
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Lawsuit challenges new restrictions to getting measures on Florida’s election ballot
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Progressive advocates have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging new restrictions on Florida’s process to get citizen-driven initiatives on the ballot before voters. Florida Decides Healthcare, the campaign to secure a measure on the 2026 ballot to expand Medicaid in the state, is bringing the legal challenge, along with the…
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Number of St. Catharines properties in tax arrears soars under current council
The number of property tax accounts in arrears has risen sharply in St. Catharines since 2022, according to documents obtained by The Pointer through a Freedom of Information request. The disturbing increase aligns with the controversial hikes in municipal tax rates introduced by the current City Council. Residents of Niagara’s largest city were shocked in…
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Ransomware criminals are dumping kids’ private files online after school hacks
The confidential documents stolen from schools and dumped online by ransomware gangs are raw, intimate and graphic. They describe student sexual assaults, psychiatric hospitalizations, abusive parents, truancy — even suicide attempts. “Please do something,” begged a student in one leaked file, recalling the trauma of continually bumping into an ex-abuser at a school in Minneapolis.…
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Prisons head said process to notify minister of Bernardo transfer was followed: email
OTTAWA — As confusion reigned about who was informed that notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo was being transferred to a medium-security prison, the head of Canada’s federal prison system wrote to Public Safety Canada officials insisting the appropriate notification protocols had been followed. Emails released to The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act…
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Corrections head questioned how Mendicino was kept in dark over Bernardo transfer
OTTAWA — Days after Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino shared his outrage on social media over the transfer of notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison, the head of Canada’s federal prison system asked the department whether the politician had been told of the move. Anne Kelly, the commissioner of the Correctional Service…
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Facebook faces legal setback in EU court decision on data privacy and ads
LONDON (AP) — Facebook lost a legal challenge Tuesday at the European Union’s top court over a groundbreaking German antitrust decision that limited the way the company uses data for advertising. The European Court of Justice said competition watchdogs can consider whether companies like Facebook comply with the continent’s strict privacy rules, which are normally…
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Meta looks to target Twitter with a rival app called Threads
LONDON (AP) — Meta is poised to unveil a new app that appears to mimic Twitter — a direct challenge to the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. A listing for the app, called Threads, appeared on Apple’s App Store, indicating it would debut as early as Thursday. It is billed as a “text-based…
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US judge blocks portions of new Florida elections law
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday blocked Florida from enforcing part of a new elections law that bans non-citizens from handling or or collecting voter registration forms, saying the state can’t restrict individual rights and gave no proof it was necessary to do so. The ruling also blocks a ban on third-party…
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Iowa auditor says new law will restrict his office’s access to information
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s auditor may face new challenges in his quest to track taxpayer dollars after a new law takes effect Saturday that allows state agencies to deny his office access to information and bars him from making an appeal in court. State Auditor Rob Sand, the only Democrat in statewide office,…